[ian beckett]

The 635 raced in the national championships of Great Britain ,France,Germany,Belgium,Italy,Scandinavia.Australia,New Zealand and Japan.They had individual race wins but generally were unsuccessful in winning championships.Their main stomping ground was in the European Touring Car series where their reliability and sheer numbers brought much success. The only 'proper' World Touring Car championship in'87 saw the car being largely replaced by the M3,this being a pukka race car rather than the 635 which was essentially an executive cruiser which BMW turned into a successful race car out of neccessity.The 635 also ran in hillclimbs,rallies and even rallycross in France and a couple are still having fun on the Canary Islands even now.In fact both cars are for sale,so come on get those piggy banks open!! The car also had limited success in Group N but again was rather too heavy and underpowered for greater things. The cars also raced in Group 2 trim from 1980 where the cars had deeper air dams and large wheel arches and also ran 'down under' to local regulations before the Group A reg's became the norm the world over.The largest number of 635's in any one race was 22 for the 1984 Monza ETC although it has to be said that the Bulgarian entry(yes really did not appear;it did exist however!).The car was only eclipsed for sheer numbers by the M3 which is another story.People seem surprised by the numbers of cars produced but remember that BMW had a serious competitions department,BMW were growing rapidly into the popular marque that they are today and also that BMW had a long tradition of racing their products.The car was also easy for the privateer to build(I remember a car actually being completed,not repaired in the Donington paddock in 1984,a Bavaria Automobiles car).To a competent mechanic the cars would have been easy to build because BMW Motorsports provided a set of parts rather like an outsized plastic model!!